Arts and Politics

I watched as much as I could stand of the presidential debate last night. I had to quit early anyway to host the weekly Listen & Be Heard Radio Hour. (You can listen to that show by clicking on “October 7” in blogtalkradio player in the right hand column of this page.) Of course Arts, Arts Education, Culture, these topics aren’t important enough to enter the discussion when everyone’s worried about their bank accounts and where in the world to shoot bullets. But it is the Arts that will sustain us even when the stock market fails and our sons and daughters die in foreign lands. It would save us all a lot of pain and sorrow if we would pay closer attention now to the world we are constantly creating around us.

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Turn on the television and you will see bullets fly and women dying in all sorts of unspeakable ways, a non-stop thrill ride from one commercial to the next with the same story line, the same story line, the same story line. Turn off the TV and take a walk. What are the chances that you will see evidence of a creative community where you live? What are your options? Will you walk to the local bar and watch TV there? Will you walk to your local bookstore and find a book of poetry? Will you go to see a live play tonight on Main Street or go dance to some live music? Is there a Main Street where you live or just a strip mall? Do you care about any of those things? Maybe you will when you have nothing left but a voice to sing with, feet to dance with, hands to sculpt with, and the very human desire to overcome adversity and find strength in creation.

It’s not a coincidence that the music which transformed the modern world was created far from the halls of exclusion, in a place of deprivation. There is no culture today that has not been touched and transformed by Jazz. In retrospect the spirit of Jazz has done more for World Peace than any politician, diplomat or official organization. We are all deprived today. Deprived of home town culture, deprived of beauty, deprived of arts education, deprived of peace.

Please do vote. Vote on local ballots; vote for your presidential candidate. After you vote, and you wonder how much difference it will really make, beat your drum. Beat the drum beat that makes your heart leap, puts purpose in your step reminds you of what’s real and how you really feel and don’t stop! If they take your drum, then be the drum. You have to beat your drum no matter what.

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2 Replies to “Arts and Politics”

martha: you’re a constant reminder of what can still be good in this wild world. thank you so much, and i think i’ll go for a nice walk with my wife dog out in nature, listen to the birds, and be happy i’m alive and healthy and able to enjoy what really fills the soul. thank you!

I loved this book. I picked it up in the Albuquerque airport on my way home after attending my father's funeral. Ms. Harjo speaks eloquently of birth and death in the telling of her story of becoming the fierce poet and musician that she...

This book was very interesting and entertaining. I found myself a little confused in a couple places about who the narrator was, with the story jumping around in time and among characters, but got the gist of it anyway. It is a window in...

I heard Arundhati Roy speaking with Amy Goodman once on the radio, and was impressed with her passion and intelligence. Somehow I never got around to reading any of her books until now. I really enjoyed this one. It is great storytelling...

I could never actually say that I finished volume 2 or 1 of Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood, they are the work of the incredible scholarship and imagination of Merlin Stone. These two books together are a never-ending fountain of ideas, ins...

Dear Pedro,
John Dean interrupted my
regularly scheduled Sesame Street
when you were getting turned on to grass
i was watching Vietnam on TV
when you met Agent Orange
and he stuck to you like glue
i didn’t know i just heard
it was the wo...